KLM Base Maintenance is part of Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, and represents 14,000 employees and a fleet of nearly 1,500 aircraft.

Base Maintenance is participating in the Digitizing Employees trajectory, in which KLM employees in various departments are provided with digital tools to make their work more enjoyable, easier and more efficient.

The new app makes the maintenance crew’s work more enjoyable, easier and more efficient

In order to perform an A-Check (regular inspection) of an aircraft the maintenance crew must have access to the latest manuals. The crew works based on predefined tasks, which means they print the manuals and tasks before they set to work. As information is only available on the computers in the work preparation area, staff move regularly back and forth from the aircraft to the computer, sometimes covering distances of up to eight kilometers a shift.

To organize the work of the KLM employees more efficiently, Mirabeau and KLM developed an app with the crew that makes their work more enjoyable. The iMech app is focused on the employees instead of the process, which also makes the work more efficient. The results are impressive:

• More flight hours due to a shorter A-check
• Enhanced employee engagement
• Increased maintenance reliability
• More time for personal development
• Cost reductions in paper consumption

New workflow aligned to the needs and wishes of the maintenance crew

Together with the maintenance crew, Mirabeau defined a goal: what will the future work day look like? To develop this vision, Mirabeau held interviews with management, organized workshops with the crew, and tagged along with the maintenance on Boeing 737 aircraft on various occasions.

Based on this research, we developed an employee journey (workflow) that formed a good basis for Agile software development. It resulted in the first backlog and helped the organization structure improvements.

Working on site in the hangar and close to the end user proved to be a success factor for the interaction designers and visual designers of Mirabeau. Small and larger user tests allowed the interim validation of the design and usability on the work floor, resulting in a solution that is more aligned to the needs and wishes of the maintenance crew. It also gave the crew the opportunity to help select the best device.

The iMech app is an important part of the Hangar of the Future, and is currently used by the maintenance crew to perform the A-check on the Boeing 737 and 787. To realise this, KLM has distributed 400 iPads to Base Maintenance and Line Maintenance (at the gate). KLM and Mirabeau will be developing the app further for the other Boeing types in the KLM fleet and for Air France Industries.

Mirabeau and KLM: partners for over 11 years

Mirabeau is an important partner for KLM, helping the airline become the world’s most efficient, innovative and client-oriented airline in the field of digital strategy and design.

Companies can only be and remain leading players by quickly addressing technological developments and changing client needs. User-friendly internal systems for employees are crucial in this framework. The goal of the Digitizing Employees trajectory is therefore to equip KLM employees in various departments with digital tools to make their work more enjoyable, easier and more efficient.

In addition to Base Maintenance we also studied the KLM Cabin Crew, Cockpit, Ground Services, Cargo and Component Services. We are now working with KLM on developing apps for some of these departments.

User-friendly manual

Dutch Interactive Award (DIA) for Hangar of the Future

Mirabeau’s iMech app won a Golden Dutch Interactive Award during the DIA Award Show 2017. The prize for the process innovation at KLM was awarded in the B2B category. According to the jury report, the KLM Hangar of the Future is an “excellent business case, in which the client provides its employees with an exceptional hands-on tool. This is a fine example of process innovation and worthy of an award.”

KLM won the Silver DIA as Company of the Year at the same show. This prize is awarded to the company or organization that has integrated digital solutions in the past year, and challenged the agency involved to take these solutions to the next level.
Interested? Contact Remco Vroom, Client Manager Travel & Hospitality +31(0)6 8262 9743.

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